Sunday, February 14, 2016

Hyannis 2016 Ready

Two weeks from today Team McManus will be running the Hyannis 10K. So what's the big deal you may ask? Team McManus ran the Bermuda Half Marathon on January 17th.

It's not about the distance and it won't be about the time although we plan on having the best time yet in Hyannis.

It's about momentum. It's about health and wellness and it's about reclaiming my life.

For the first time since having been diagnosed with post polio syndrome, "a progressive neuromuscular disease" in December of 2006 which in fact was a result of damage from the polio virus and trauma being stuck in the very fiber of my body and being, I am feeling wonderful. I am running AND strength training.

Hyannis holds such special memories for us.

It was my first half marathon race in February of 2009. I was blessed to meet Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter and experience the love and support from champions for my Boston Marathon journey. It was my first bling:

In 2011, my friend Deborah Doiron and I ran the 10K and Tom ran the half training for Boston. You can read all about it in Camp Hyannis.

We reunited with Dick Hoyt at the Expo and I bought a copy of his book:

I met Jack Fultz for the first time:

and got to see Jimmy Garcia's ultramarathon bling collection:

I had a great run that year despite the slush under my feet and huge snow flakes falling down. The scene of the golf course outside our window when we woke up:

Race director Paul Collyer did away with the 10K for a few years and I cheered on Tom at the half in 2014. It was a difficult year for me to be on the sidelines in Hyannis. I had those old familiar yet very uncomfortable feelings of being left behind.

Last year the race was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions but my head was in a good place to experience the joy of Camp Hyannis even though I had no prospects of getting back on the roads.

If you were to ask me this time last year if I would be running in Hyannis again I would have told you no way. I had yet to meet the people who would be the game changers in my healing journey. I knew I wanted to run again but didn't dare imagine that I could run beyond a 5K or maybe a 5 miler distance given the results of the MRI in December of 2014.

But as my dear friend and sole sister Nicole Berglund wrote on Facebook today, "I also am so amazed to see what Mary has accomplished. In this modern world with doctors and technology there are some things you can't explain. I've learned how much stronger the mind is than the body."

I am able to harness the power of my mind and imagination to go the distance in my healing journey.

While I ran in cold temperatures training for the 2009 Boston Marathon, I opted to train indoors on the treadmill yesterday. I did a 10K. I am amazed at how resilient my body is; how after running a half on 1/17, I am ready to run a 10K in two weeks. I'll taper now but continue to train strong in my cross training and strength training. I've got a lot of distance to cover in building strength and healing and a lot of time to make up for.

I am thoroughly enjoying the journey and the sense of triumph over my past.

Team McManus is Hyannis 2016. Bring on the adventure! Time to make new memories in Hyannis!

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About Me

"I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this
sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up,
no matter what else happened.” Wilma Rudolph, polio survivor and Olympic
Champion

I've known challenges since I was five years old beginning
with contracting paralytic polio and then enduring nine years of violence at
the hands of family members. Those early challenges helped me to grow into the
woman that I am today and prepared me to take on the challenge of Post-Polio
Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine Standards.

Diagnosed in December 2006 at the height of my award winning
career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs, I had done
what I'd always done when faced with life’s trials and tribulations. I got
still and asked for Divine Guidance. It came through my pen, my divining rod of
healing. Poetry flowed inspiring mind, body and soul to heal.

I took a leap of faith in May 2007, leaving my career to go
on a quest to heal my life. The first poem I wrote, “Running the Race,”
foreshadowed my 2009 Boston Marathon run as a mobility impaired runner. I
feverishly wrote poetry harnessing the power of my imagination to heal my life. Eight
years after beginning my quest to heal the effects of paralytic polio and
trauma, after a serious knee injury, I was able to get traction on my healing journey. I became a woman transformed; a woman who goes the distance on the roads and in my life and who embodies the power of endurance.

I am an Author, an Endurance Runner, a Motivational Speaker, Blogger
and Inspirational Poet.

I hold a BS in Communications from Boston University, an MSW
from Boston College and many fond memories of my veterans and their families
who blessed my life when I worked at the VA . I live in Chestnut Hill
Massachusetts with Tom, my husband, my soul mate and the man who has gone the
distance with me for the past 40 years.